Why was she in such a hurry, I wonder?

Ilyshn'ish frowned down at Lady Wagner's handwriting as she left Wagner Manor. She supposed it could have been worse.

Her new schedule had her return to the Justice Dragon Dojo twice a week. She was allowed to keep working at the Frosty Beard. For six days – from evening until morning – she would follow one of House Wagner's new merchants around. At the end of the week, she would return to see Lady Wagner and review her observations.

It was a relaxing pace that replaced a part of her time studying the Humans of the city with studying the merchants of the city. Her other commitments remained unchanged, so life had returned to the 'normal' that it had been before her work in the Azerlisia Mountains.

Strolling down the avenues of E-Rantel's central district, Ilyshn'ish watched the various household servants going about their business. Since she was now a Knight, did that mean she needed servants as well? Would she need to pay them? Frost Dragons had what they loosely referred to as slaves, but they were nothing like the maids and footmen that were seeing to their errands around her.

She did have Quagoa doing things for her at one point. Conjuring up the image of one from her memory, she stuck him in a maid uniform. What then?

Lady Zahradnik's maids kept things clean, but there was no point in trying to keep a mountain clean. They also helped to organize…no, that wouldn't work at all. Ilyshn'ish didn't want anyone touching her things. The Quagoa maid started crawling around and messing with her future hoard of treasure. She hastily waved the image away.

According to Human tales, Knights often had attendants that accompanied them to battle. Ilyshn'ish didn't want to have anything to do with battle, but would she need a few just in case? To be capable of accompanying her to battle they would have to be Dragons themselves, or at least something strong that could fly as quickly as she. Maybe she should have kept Kali'ciel for herself.

Her wanderings brought her by the Ministry of Transportation. When she entered, the Death Knight inside barred the way to the stairs, raising its shield. Scary.

A Vampire Bride at the front desk fixed her with a curious gaze.

"Do you have some business with the Ministry of Transportation?"

"I work for the Ministry of Transportation," Ilyshn'ish replied. "Why are you – oh."

"Oh?"

Ilyshn'ish raised a finger to point at herself.

"I'm a Frost Dragon," she said. "Dame Verilyn. If my agent is in the office, please let her know that I've come to check for anything new."

"One moment, please."

The Vampire Bride vanished up the stairs. Five minutes later, she returned with a familiar face.

"This isn't Dame Verilyn," her agent said.

"That's what I thought," the receptionist nodded.

"Yes, I am!" Ilyshn'ish glanced towards the Death Knight, "I just don't usually assume this appearance in the city."

Ilyshn'ish looked around. Sensing no one but Vampire Brides and a Death Knight, she became a Human in front of them.

"There," she said. "Happy?"

"I don't see what it has to do with being happy," her agent replied, then produced an envelope. "Anyway, this came in for you just now."

"What is it?"

"The weekly notice from the Adventurer Guild," the Vampire bride replied. "Speaking of which, should I be notifying relevant parties when you're away? With your trip to the Empire, who knows how many of these notifications you'll get."

Ilyshn'ish took the envelope in hand, opening it to find that it said much the same as the others from previous weeks. It showed the list of Copper-rank trials for the week and requested that she reserve a slot at least a day in advance. She wondered if Ishpen and Wina ever tired of sending these notifications when they never received any response from her.

"Please do," Ilyshn'ish told her agent. "I'll be in the city until further notice. Aside from the two days with Master Tian and the day in the Frosty Beard, the rest of my evenings and nights will be taken up with my studies."

"Very well," her agent said. "There is one last thing, Dame Verilyn."

A rare look of hesitation crossed the Vampire Bride's face. She withdrew another envelope, this one sealed with red wax. Presenting it with both hands, she lowered her head. The receptionist and the sentry lowered their heads as well. Ilyshn'ish grew nervous at the out-of-place behaviour.

"W-what's going on?"

"This arrived for you from the Office of the Royal Treasurer," the Vampire Bride did not raise her gaze. "Please accept it."

Ilyshn'ish was vaguely aware of the department's existence, but she didn't know anyone from it. Plucking the letter from the Vampire Bride's hands, she unsealed it and carefully read the content.

"An apology?"

"An apology," the Vampire Bride affirmed, "and restitution. For your five eggs, 100 platinum trade coins have been offered for each. Is this acceptable?"

"I-it is! It is – I'll take it."

The Vampire Bride pulled out a bulging sack. When she placed it into Ilyshn'ish awaiting hands, the satisfying sound of many coins shifting against one another rose into the air. She undid the leather drawstring and stuck her face into the awaiting treasure.

"…what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Her muffled voice sounded from the bag, "This is perfectly normal."

Five hundred platinum coins. Five hundred. It would take her a hundred weeks of performing at the Frosty Beard to earn the same amount. Several minutes later, her head popped out of the sack again. The Vampire Brides were regarding her with slight frowns. Even the Death Knight looked like it was frowning at her.

"Well, um…please thank the Royal Treasurer for me."

"It is not the Royal Treasurer who was responsible for this," the Vampire Bride told her. "It was Baroness Zahradnik who fought on your behalf."

"She beat the Royal Treasurer?"

The frowns deepened.

"That's not what happened. She came to investigate what happened between you and the Magician Guild. The Baroness was about as incensed as I've ever seen her. She pressed Lady Shalltear to bring the matter to His Majesty's attention, and His Majesty agreed with her assessment of the situation."

He did? Well, that was nice of him. A shadow crossed her thoughts.

"What would have happened if he didn't agree?" Ilyshn'ish asked.

"Lady Shalltear would have most likely executed her for her presumption. Lady Zahradnik risked her life for you, Dame Verilyn."

"…for eggs."

A flash of anger ghosted across the Vampire Bride's face. Ilyshn'ish stepped back warily.

"Not 'for eggs'," the Undead handmaiden said tersely. "She fought an injustice carried out against you. As your liege, she is bound to protect you, and as His Majesty's loyal servant it is her duty to uphold His order – even if it kills her."

The Vampire Bride took a deep breath, as if to calm herself. Her sense of hostility faded away.

"To die in the service of our Supreme Overlord is the highest honour anyone can achieve. We, too, would do as she did without hesitation…except we can't. It is vexing that an outsider can stand to so boldly challenge an order that we would not even dare think to, yet we all envy her ability to render such service to our Master."

That didn't make much sense. Why couldn't they just speak their disagreement? The Sorcerer King seemed like a perfectly reasonable person.

"Will there be anything else, Dame Verilyn?"

"That will be all, thank you."

Ilyshn'ish left the Ministry of Transportation. Thoughts of what had transpired followed her as she made her way out to the common area of the city. Yet another thing crossed her mind.

Dame Verilyn…is it some sort of spell?

Now that she was back in the Sorcerous Kingdom, her title found its way more often to the lips of those around her. Ilyshn'ish understood that names had power. Her new title, however, was not one that possessed any of its own. It felt like a hollow form with no taste or texture; the spectre of something that was no longer there.

Yet people attributed power to it. Behaviours changed, assumptions were made and expectations attached. Within the ruined shell of an old identity, a new one stirred.

She wondered if the Humans were aware of this. They carried the ghosts of their old cultures with them, which were slowly being supplanted by what was hatching in the Sorcerous Kingdom. Perhaps they would never notice or assume that it always was. Such were the perceptions of short-lived mortals.

As she came to the gate of the central district, Ilyshn'ish mulled over what she would do. Since it was still not quite time to meet her merchant contact, she headed off to the Adventurer Guild. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that only Wina was present at the reception counter.

"Shiver," the guild receptionist greeted her with a smile. "It's been a while."

"It has," Ilyshn'ish returned Wina's warm expression. "I apologize for not informing you that I would be away – I was rushed off rather suddenly. Where's Ishpen?"

Wina reached under the counter, retrieving a sheet of paper.

"She went out to grab dinner for the both of us," she picked up her pen from the desk. "I take it you'd like to sign up for a trial before she returns?"

"It's good that you understand. I have no idea what sort of scolding I'll get after not replying to your notices. Ehm…do you have something without those little bugs?"

"That's entirely up to the proctors," Wina told her. "Given what happened the last time, they might just keep sending you to face the same thing until you get over it."

Get over it? Dirty things were dirty. If she ever 'got over it', it would be a sad state of affairs indeed.

"I-Isn't there something you can do?"

"Ishpen will give you an earful if she finds out you asked that."

Ilyshn'ish let out a whimper, resigning herself to fate. Hopefully, she would pass and start collecting some pay. She was placed in a trial for the following morning, but the sheet of paper only had three names.

"Shouldn't there be six people?" She asked.

"If we could get six people signing up for trials every time," Wina answered, "we'd have hundreds of Adventurers by now. Lord Mare had to rework some sections to accommodate smaller party sizes, so it sort of worked out."

"Sort of?"

"Well, yes – small parties are more fragile. Sometimes we end up with strange combinations, too. We've been getting swamped with Fighters recently, so sometimes the trial groups are filled with them."

"Why Fighters?"

"It's just the way things are around here," Wina shrugged. "Most of the people that come in are from the farms in the territories. It's nothing new – we've always had lots of country kids trying their luck. They can't read or write, so the common path is whatever they played at while they were kids and trying to turn it into a career."

Humans had such an aimless existence. Ilyshn'ish couldn't imagine what she would do if she didn't know what she was meant to do.

"Won't the Adventurer Guild be filled with warriors, then?"

"That's how it seems," Wina shrugged, "but the Guildmaster is loath to turn them away. Raising properly trained warriors of any sort takes a long time – just as long as magic casters. I don't think many people realize that. Instead of potentially missing out on hidden gems, we're negotiating an agreement with the Merchant Guild."

"What does the Adventurer Guild have to do with the Merchant Guild?"

"Not much, normally," Wina said. "It was Momon's idea – he's not just strong, but he's really smart. The gist of it is that we'll keep taking in anyone that will sign up. Adventurers who hit their limit at Gold or Silver will continue training until they're about as strong as the elite soldiers that you find in the Imperial Legions. After that, they'll be signed on as Gold and Silver rank merchant guards."

Ilyshn'ish frowned, not quite understanding the meaning of Wina's words. She wasn't even sure what merchants did aside from selling things, never mind their guards.

"What's the point of that? The Sorcerous Kingdom has powerful Undead all over the place."

"They do," Wina agreed, "but that only applies for places that employ the Sorcerous Kingdom's Undead forces. Most of the world doesn't want Undead stomping around freely like they do here. They have to rely on flesh and blood escorts. Our merchants will need protection when they travel beyond the safety of our Undead patrols, and the Adventurer Guild will train the people to fill that need. In four or five years, anyone that messes with the Sorcerer Kingdom's merchants will have to deal with merchant guards that can best the elite legionnaires of the Empire."

"Would people be so foolish to attack the Sorcerous Kingdom's merchants?"

"Maybe no one in the region," Wina said, "but it's a big world. Go a thousand kilometres out in any direction and it's likely that no one's even heard of us. Not only that, but there are still outlaws, monsters and tribal raiders to defend against. With the drastic increase in exports here, our merchant traffic can only go up to match."

"I see…"

Ilyshn'ish didn't get it. Wina appeared to be enamoured of the idea, however, so she just acted the part.

Someone opened the main door, and Ilyshn'ish froze. Her Blindsense registered the presence of Ishpen as she entered the guildhall. Ilyshn'ish vaulted over the counter and darted into the back hall.

"Hey!" Wina called out after her.

"Hey," Ishpen replied. "I can't believe how long the line at that stand was. Here's your…what?"

"Nothing."

Their voices faded away as Ilyshn'ish silently slipped out of the back door. A grim fate at the hands of Ishpen avoided, she made her way out of the alley and back into the busy streets.

With twilight fading over the city, Ilyshn'ish wove her way over to the southeastern side of the common area. It was informally known as the 'forge quarter', where E-Rantel's smithies were built. She was immersed in the sounds of industry as she worked her way around people and wagons. Not only were there forges, but lumber yards, leatherworkers, masons, carpenters and a dozen other types of workshops that handled the processing of goods imported from the duchy's territory and beyond.

Near the entrance to the Demihuman Quarter, Ilyshn'ish found the small plaza where the merchant was supposed to be setting up shop. The pavement was awash in magical lighting from posts arranged much like the main plaza. Unlike the main plaza, wagons and carts were more prevalent than stands, and people in working outfits wandered the aisles. Ilyshn'ish joined the flow of pedestrians, examining what was being offered.

The wares here were not finished goods. Ore, timber, pelts and stone were the main items on display. Men and women browsing through the place occasionally stopped to ask questions or speak with their fellows, but otherwise remained silent. The atmosphere was almost grim, yet even the merchants appeared unconcerned over this fact.

What am I supposed to be learning here, they barely say anything…

Ilyshn'ish pulled the schedule Lady Wagner had made for her, trying to figure out where to go. The directions were confusing, but all of the plazas in E-Rantel had the places for market booths organized according to the same system. After several minutes, she found herself in front of a table with a small cart beside it.

Upon the table was a row of cases with unpolished gemstones and lumps of precious metals. To her draconic treasure sense, the stall was woefully out of place amongst the relatively cheap materials on display in the plaza.

Several moments passed before Ilyshn'ish pulled her attention away from the treasures arrayed before her. It was then that she noticed a familiar figure seated on a tall stool behind the table.

"Zu Chiru," Ilyshn'ish tilted her head curiously. "What in the world are you doing here?"